


A Collection of Hawaii Five-0 Drabbles

by Highlander_II



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-14
Updated: 2012-07-14
Packaged: 2017-11-09 22:22:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/459133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highlander_II/pseuds/Highlander_II
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a collection of drabbles written for a landcomm.  There are fifty of them and I've broken them down into chapters of 25 each.</p><p>There's no real sequence or plot.  They're little vignettes.</p><p>All episodes of seasons one and two are fair game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**One:**

This wasn't the first time he had been dragged across the island at Steve's behest, but this was one of the more annoying times. They had driven his car onto a curb, busted a door down, threatened a man with a grenade, then lost the suspect entirely.

But, beyond that, Danny found himself currently sitting in a puddle of muddy water. Why? Because during the course of following his boss on this investigation, he had the misfortune of tripping over one of Steve's giant combat boots.

As a result, he was sitting in this puddle demonstrating his New Jersey, non-verbal communication skills.

******

**Two:**

"You know Steve's gonna kill us for this."

"Maybe. But not today."

"You sure?"

"Mmmhmm."

"I don't know. I mean, it's his birthday."

"Trust me. It'll be fine. We'll let him find the real one so he won't feel bad about this one."

"You are a devious, wicked man. I like it. So how do we keep it from him, but have it somewhere he will find it?"

"Put it in the trunk of my car – the real one. The other one can stay in the office."

"And he'll find it there?"

"Um, he will if we're chasing a suspect and he's in need of weapons."

"Right. We got this."

*****

**Three:**

McGarrett had sent her out here to find something. She's sure it's important, only, it doesn't feel that way. At all. How is sitting in a car important?

"What-cha doing?" a familiar voice asks through the window.

"Trying not to fall asleep."

Her visitor slides into the car. "Don't do that. Then I won't have anyone to talk to."

"Danny, is this really as important as McGarrett says?" she asks.

Danny smiles. "You think he's insulting your intelligence. He's not. This is a necessary part of the investigation."

"And you're supposed to help me?"

"Nope. Just bein' nice." He smiles.

She gives him a sideways look. "Just being nice? That's all?"

He nods. "For now. So, what are you scoping out anyway?"

*****

**Four:**

They had almost been expecting it. Almost. Sure, they knew it was coming, but not quite this soon.

Chin gathered everyone in the office and announced that he and Malia were getting married. He beamed, bright as a spotlight. They hadn't ever seen him so happy.

After the initial, brief shock wore off, there were congratulations all around and the early discussions of who would be the best man and maid of honor. Excitement filled the office until the buzz was stymied by an alert tone from the computer.

All the cheer and joy had to be tucked away in favor of the new information related to their current case. The celebration wasn't cancelled, just pre-empted for breaking news.

*****

**Five:**

"Are you serious?" Danny groaned and folded an arm over his face. The sudden illumination in the room was nearly blinding.

"Yes, Danny, I'm serious. This is important," Steve fired back with no concern for the volume of his voice.

Another groan and Danny flipped over onto his stomach. 'Folded the pillow over his head.

Steve clapped his hands – a sound that echoed off every wall in the room – and boomed, "Now, now, none of that. We have work to do."

Danny nearly took Steve's hand off at the wrist when the man tried to take his pillow. "Normal people do their shopping during the day! Fuck off." He tucked himself back under the pillow, daring Steve to try again.

*****

**Six:**

"It was murder."

Steve and Danny looked at each other, then back to the Medical Examiner.

"Right, we know that, Max. We were wondering if you had anything more specific?" Steve asked.

Max seemed to stare at them for a moment. "Of course," he said. "The most probable cause of death was blunt force trauma to the cranium. However, the plastic bag that was placed over the victim's head was likely a contributing factor."

Danny frowned, confused. "There wasn't a plastic bag on the victim when he was found."

"Perhaps not. But, I found traces of black plastic in the victim's cranial wounds here and here," he answered as he pointed out the locations in question.

*****

**Seven:**

"Hey, Monkey. What's wrong?"

Grace settled her chin in her hands, elbows resting on her knees. "Mommy says we're moving again."

Danny flattened his lips, trying to be the bigger man and not outwardly bad-mouth Stan in front of his daughter. "Yeah, you might be. But, you know what?" He waited for her to look at him. "Danno loves you no matter where you live."

She blinked big, bright eyes at him. "I know. But I don't want to move. I like it here." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'll be sad if we go and leave you here."

Danny looped an arm around her shoulders. "We'll figure something out, Monkey."

*****

**Eight:**

" _This_ is your plan?!" He shook his head, disbelieving. "Really? This is the best you've got? Let me say how much I _hate_ this plan. Because, I do. I _hate_ this plan. There is no plan that I have disliked more than this one." He took a breath and continued before he could be interrupted. "There are so many reasons why this is a terrible plan. So, so many. Not the least of which is that in involves _me_." He then wagged a finger. "We won't even touch on the outfit you're trying to put me into."

"Oh, quit whining."

*****

**Nine:**

"Just talked to Steve and he won't be in today," Chin said as he approached the main computer.

"So, what, he's just gonna take the day off in the middle of a case?" Danny snarked. This was entirely unlike Steve. The man never took a day off. He could cut off his own arm and would come to work – especially during a case.

"Food poisoning. Apparently he lost a fight with some shrimp or something. He's married to the porcelain god for, at least, the next twenty-four."

"Guess we'll have to solve this one ourselves," Kono said. "So, let's get crackin'."

*****

**Ten:**

Kono has a secret. She hasn't told anyone. No one at all.

No, it's not that she still sleeps with a teddy bear (though sometimes she does). It's not that she really misses competitive surfing and wishes she could go back (everyone knows that). It's not even that if the powers that be gave her a new knee, that she would quit Five-oh and surf again (that, they might guess, but don't necessarily know).

No, her secret is, she wants to take Danny's car for one bitch of a joyride. She wants to press the accelerator, hear the engine roar, and feel the tires burn up the road as the car screams down a long, straight stretch.

She dreams of it. Once, she even almost got up the nerve to ask, but Danny had to pick up Grace and the moment was gone.

Someday.

*****

**Eleven:**

Danny looked up from his task and said, "I know this looks bad, but it's not what you think."

Chin nodded twice and folded his arms over his chest. "Really? Because it looks like you have my cousin bent over your desk with her jeans around her knees and your hand on her ass." He did not sound happy about that at all.

"Okay, so, maybe it is what it looks like, but I swear, it's strictly medical." Danny held up both hands.

Kono tried hard not to laugh.

Chin frowned.

"Look, she said she thought she had a rash," Danny waved his hand at her ass as he spoke. "She wanted me to check and, if so, apply cortisone cream. I swear."

Chin said nothing, turned and left the office.

*****

**Twelve:**

Steve was a bit surprised by what he found on his couch when he got home. He stood at the door, studying the tableau with curious eyes. It was unusual for there to be someone in his house when he returned. 'Even more so for someone to be dressed quite so provocatively.

Had it not been so long since his last intimate engagement, he was sure he wouldn’t have reacted quite so immediately to the pheromone presence. His mouth suddenly went dry and he _wanted_ the woman on his couch so badly he could taste it.

He tugged her to her feet, drew her in for a kiss and wiggled his fingers beneath the silk of her chemise. Moments later, they were on the couch, tangled together with scraps of clothing barely hanging on to groping limbs.

*****

**Thirteen:**

Maybe, this one time, Danny had been right. Maybe.

Because while he was currently lingering on the side of the road with his broken-down car, he was enjoying the sun and fresh air.

He had left his phone at the house, so was without a way to call someone to pick him up, and was left to wait on a passer-by to help him out.

While he waited, he stretched himself out on the hood of the old car, folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. This wasn't how he had planned to spend his afternoon, but it was a pleasant alternative.

*****

**Fourteen:**

Danny hates Stan. Probably not for reasons most would think. Not because he married Danny's ex-wife. Not even because he moved Danny's daughter to this 'pineapple-infested hellhole'. (A hellhole he was starting to like more than he would ever admit to anyone.)

No, Danny hates Stan because the man can afford to pick up and move from one giant house to another without batting an eye. Danny hates that he had to sell everything he owned so he could ship one small box and himself to this pineapple-infested hellhole and live in a cracker box that was smaller than the first apartment he moved into when he went to college.

 _That_ is why he hates Stan.

*****

**Fifteen:**

Kono folded herself onto Danny's couch, beer in hand. "You ever think about doing it again?" she asked.

Danny collapsed on the other end, matching beer in his own hand. "Doing what?" he asked in return as he brushed a hand over his hair.

"Getting married," Kono clarified and took a sip of her beer.

He snorted. Then his face fell. "Sometimes." Sometimes he thought about it a lot. Most of the time, he tried not to think about it at all.

"Do you imagine the whole big ceremony with flowers and the bride in her beautiful dress?" she asked with a smile and a couple sweeping hand gestures.

Danny shook his head. "Not on my current paycheck. It's more a J.P. thing." He shrugged. "Besides, already did it the big way once."

"I think you'd do it 'the big way' for the right person."

"Maybe," he conceded.

*****

**Sixteen:**

It wasn't until Steve saw Danny slump to the ground that he knew something was wrong. He was over there, kneeling beside him in a flash. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

At first, he thought Danny might have been shot, but then he said he couldn't breathe and that freaked Steve right the fuck out. What do you do when your partner can't breathe? Right – hospital – ambulance.

He got someone to call.

What the hell had gotten to Danny so quickly?

Did someone say 'biological'? Who the fuck has access to biological weapons and would... his thoughts are quickly diverted back to his partner who is beginning to lose consciousness or seize or something...

Where the hell is that ambulance?

*****

**Seventeen:**

"Aren't you still in pre-school? What kind of pre-school gives you giant homework projects?"

"Danno," Grace half-whined. "Third grade. And it's for history. We have to build a scene from the Civil War."

Danny held a tree firmly in its pool of glue to get it to stick. "And you couldn't have picked The Gettysburg Address?"

Grace sighed. "Someone else picked that first."

"Oh." He placed a soldier into his glue and released the tree. It remained standing... this time.

"So I got Sherman burning Atlanta," Grace added.

Danny frowned. "I might be a bit concerned about your history lessons."

*****

**Eighteen:**

"These are amazing," Steve declared. "Did you make these?" he asked Lori of the deliciousness he was stuffing into his mouth.

She nodded. "Yeah. I did. You like?"

Steve nodded and licked frosting off his pinkie. "Best ever."

Lori smiled. "Not too dry? Good flavor?" She hadn't had a chance to bake anything for anyone else in quite some time. Steve's approval was fascinating... and flattering.

"Mmmm. Not dry at all. And you will never go wrong with chocolate." He shoved another bite of cupcake past his lips.

Lori laughed. She was sure there was more rich chocolatey frosting on his face than not.

*****

**Nineteen:**

Confused and ridiculously turned on by the experience, Danny gaped at what he thought was his co-worker, performing the sexiest damned strip-tease he had ever seen. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were as wide as they could get.

Sure, it was his birthday, but, even in college, or back at the precinct in Jersey, no one had ever done _this_.

Long legs straddled his knees and she lowered her sexy hips to his thighs, smoothly turning the strip-tease into a surprise lap-dance.

They were both adults, right? She wouldn't be alarmed by the not-at-all hidden erection in his slacks, right? Since that was typically the aim of a lap-dance – arousal.

Lucky for him, she knew exactly what she was doing.

*****

**Twenty:**

"Steve, don't you think storming in there with your gun drawn is a bit much?" Danny asked, keeping his hands in plain view. Steve was obviously not operating with a clear head.

"No, Danny, I don't," Steve snarled, ready to stomp inside.

He frowned at his partner. "Really? I mean, I know getting strawberry instead of vanilla is a tragedy against man, but, babe, it's a milkshake."

Steve glared at him and he took it fully in stride. It wasn't unusual for Steve to go off the handle. It was a little odd for him to flip over a damned milkshake though.

"Come on, babe, I'll just buy you a new 'shake, okay?" He wrangled Steve back into the car and got him the correct 'shake.

*****

**Twenty-one:**

"Whoa – sorry," Steve gasped and started to back out of the room, until he realized what he was actually seeing. Frown in place, he stared for a moment, then asked, "What's going on here?" sounding more confused than angry.

Kono fired a sultry look from her delicate perch atop Danny's lap. "It's Danno's birthday," she said, as though that should answer any and all questions. Without missing a beat, she went back to grinding her hips into Danny's lap.

Steve waited for Danny to say something, but the man was too far gone with enjoying himself to even notice Steve was there.

"Happy birthday, Danno," he said and exited his partner's apartment.

*****

**Twenty-two:**

"I thought we were done with all this super geeky stuff after super-guy fell off that balcony," Danny commented as they pulled up in front of the large hotel in downtown Chicago. "Not to mention," Danny continued as they got out of the car, "this isn't even our jurisdiction."

"Our suspect was last seen here. We'll ask around, see what we get," Steve replied.

Danny sighed as they stepped through the front doors. "Ask around. At 'SPLATTERCON!!!'" he said with a grunt. "And what, exactly, _is_ 'SPLATTERCON!!!'?"

They entered the main convention area and found more horror movie posters and memorabilia than they had ever seen. There was even a guy roaming around who appeared to have hammers for hands.

"You know what," Danny began, "never-mind. 'Think I got it."

*****

**Twenty-three:**

"Am I missing something, or did those movie monsters look way too real?"

Steve peered at Danny with one eye. "They weren't real. Shut up. Go to sleep."

"I can't sleep on a plane," Danny countered.

"Not even in first class?" Steve asked.

"Not even in first class," Danny confirmed.

Steve groaned. "So, what, you're just gonna keep me awake all the way back to Hawai'i?"

Danny smiled, a wicked bend of his lips. "Yup."

"That's... you know what..." Steve trailed off as he slipped headphones over his hears and closed his eyes.

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?" Danny grumped and folded his arms over his chest. Then, to be spiteful, he leaned his head against Steve's shoulder to watch the movie.

Steve cracked an eye and peered at his partner. If the man hadn't fallen asleep, he would have nudged him off his arm. For the moment, he was content to be able to tell Danny he was wrong.

*****

**Twenty-four:**

It was dark in the office when she came in. Everyone had already left for the evening. That actually worked out better for her. She could slip in, leave the note, then slip out a gain with no one to interrupt or catch her.

The note was important, but not urgent. If she was less intimidated by him, she would just ask him directly. This way, she thinks, the worst that happens is he just doesn't show.

She stood in front of his door for a long moment, then decided to go for it and slid the note underneath. That was it. She'd done it. There was no turning back now.

*****

**Twenty-five:**

From the moment they were taken, his thoughts were focused primarily on survival and escape. He knew Wo Fat would torture him. And maybe Jenna. Wo Fat was looking for something and didn't seem to care much how he got it.

Steve braced himself to withstand whatever was thrown at him. Knowing his body would be beaten and broken before he would see daylight or a friendly face.

When Jenna left him the pin from her fiancé's knee, it was like a gift. He escaped his bonds and his captors. He waited. He ran. He ended up in the back of a truck.

The next thing he remembered was Danno's face behind the flap coming to rescue him.

*****


	2. Chapter 2

**Twenty-six:**

Danny stood by, listening to the ceremony, watching and smiling like the others. It was a happy day. Even with the myriad memories making their way in, trying to stomp all over his mood. He shoved them aside and focused on how goofy Steve looked with that bunch of leaves draped around his neck. And how beautiful Malia was in her dress.

The sun was shining overhead and Kono kept nudging him and pointing at things and making him laugh. He was keeping his focus on things like how perfectly the flower in Kono's hair accented her skin and how adorable the flower girl was. Today was a really good day.

*****

**Twenty-seven:**

"No, I don't feel bad about it at all," Danny told Steve.

"Not at all? Really? Because I seem to recall your face turning a bit red when I walked in," Steve retorted.

Danny pressed his lips together. "Being annoyed at your lack of concern for my personal space isn't the same as shame, Steven."

Steve leaned forward. "The door was open and I did knock. But you probably couldn't hear over the music."

"You know," Danny said, "I think you're jealous that you didn't get to do it."

Steve blinked. "You think that _I_ wanted to give you a lap-dance for your birthday?"

"That's what I said," Danny replied with a grin.

*****

**Twenty-eight:**

Danny tucked Grace beneath the blankets on the couch and brushed hair gently back from her face. The fever was starting to break and she'd had some juice, now she was trying to sleep. Danny was trying to keep her medicated and drinking fluids.

He knew how much strep throat hurt. He'd learned to make Jell-O once he was old enough to use the stove so if he ever needed it, he'd know how. This was the first time he had needed that skill since he'd become a parent. And he was grateful for the persistence of his younger self.

*****

**Twenty-nine:**

"Steve, please!" Danny growled across the vehicle. "I will get on my knees and beg for you to drive like a normal human!"

Steve glanced across the Danny. "I am driving like a human," he countered.

Danny gaped at him, clenching the edge of the doorframe. "No! A human would travel at human speeds, not fighter jet!" he protested.

"I'm tailing a suspect who has a headstart..."

"...in _my_ car! I'd like to still be able to drive it when we apprehend the suspect!"

"Oh, you will. I guarantee it."

"That makes me feel so much better," Danny said with a role of his eyes. "Who are you, State Farm?"

*****

**Thirty:**

Danny stood, confident and ready. He had been waiting for this day since his first day at college. And he hadn't slacked off for those four years either. He had studied hard to keep his grades and GPA high. He wanted this – bad.

The Academy had been rough, but he had been determined. Now he was standing with his class, graduating. Next he would join the ranks of the New Jersey police department.

His parents, he could tell, were torn. They were proud, but scared. He told them he'd be careful. And he would be. He wanted to live a nice, long life and retire happy.

*****

**Thirty-one:**

_Daniel Williams, I swear, if you don't get me out of this...!_ That was only one of the things she remembered from the day Grace was born. It probably wasn't even the only ugly thing she said to Danny that day.

And, she can't remember if she apologized for any of it or not. Though, she's sure Danny knew she didn't mean them. She loved him and the daughter they had together.

But, some days, she wished his job wasn't so dangerous and scary. Too many nights wondering if he was coming home or if she'd get a visit from someone else informing her that something had happened and Danny had been killed in the line of duty. It sounded honorable, but it still meant her husband would be dead. She was beginning to think she wouldn't be able to keep on this way.

*****

**Thirty-two:**

"Seriously? You don't think it was a good idea to shoot the guy who had the stolen artifact so he couldn't run away?"

"No, Danny, I don't."

Danny blinked. "Any why is that?"

"Because we don't want the artifact damaged."

"Oh, so because of this super-special artifact, Mr. Shoot-first-Questions-later violates his own principles?"

"Why are you angry? You usually don't want me to shoot anyone."

"No. Shooting the bad guys is fine. Expected even. Hanging them off a roof, not so much. But letting them get away? That is not how we do police work."

"We'll catch him later," Steve said confidently.

"Right. We'll just have tea and donuts and wait for him to turn up." Danny threw up his hands. He was done.

*****

**Thirty-three:**

Steve watched Danny step up to the plate against the new pitcher, only Danny was batting left instead of right, like the last time. He watched, focused on the game until Danny got out stealing third.

As he came back to the dugout, Steve said, "When did you start switch-hitting?"

Danny frowned. "When I was five."

"Really? They taught that in little league in Jersey?"

Danny bit his lip to keep from snarling something ugly. "No. My dad had us practice that way before we ever started little league. Why are you making an issue of it?"

"I'm not. Just didn't notice before."

Chin clapped Danny on the shoulder. "Actually, he's just jealous you can do something he can't."

*****

**Thirty-four:**

"Danno, I promise to let you drive next time..."

He's sure he's heard that at least a hundred time before from Steve. He didn't believe it anymore. The last time he could remember driving his own car with Steve also in the car was when they found the dog in a victim's house.

Any of the other times he got to drive, he was alone or Chin or Kono was riding. So, he didn't believe Steve's promises at all.

"Steve, if you make that promise one more time without follow through..." is what he wanted to say, but all he managed was a mumbled growl.

*****

**Thirty-five:**

He wasn't sure what she was doing at first, then her head and shoulders appeared over the foot of the bed. A moment later, the rest of her lithe body crested the edge as she crawled over his feet.

This was new. And interesting. And fun.

Steve raised his eyebrows and crooked a finger at her. Urging her closer. But Catherine was in the mood to tease him a little. She dropped soft little kisses along his leg as she crawled her way up the bed.

He really couldn't complain about that too much. Whatever she had in mind, he was completely open to at this point.

*****

**Thirty-six**

Hell is moving off the mainland to an island overrun with palm trees and fields of pineapples. Hell is your ex-wife deciding to take your daughter there with her new husband, thus forcing you to make the decision to either never see your daughter again or pack up your one box of stuff and move to the aforementioned pineapple-infested hellhole.

Hell is working a case in your new job and running into some jerk who thinks he can walk all over your active crime scene. Hell is said jerk calling the fucking governor to get permission to officially walk all over your active crime scene, then asking you to join his task force. Asshole.

*****

**Thirty-seven:**

The one thing Danny didn't want to see was Steve grinning. That always meant trouble. It meant that Steve was thinking – again. And when Steve was thinking, there were usually weapons involved. Steve and weapons were always an explosive combination.

But, Grace, on the other hand, he would pay to see her little face light up as often as possible. If he could make her smile all the time, he would. He lived to make her life happy and bright and full of sunshine and giggles.

If he had to choose, he would definitely fall on the side of Grace grinning over Steve grinning. Grace is safer.

*****

**Thirty-eight:**

After he got out of the hospital, Danny was damned near ready to hug anyone not in scrubs or a lab coat. He's pretty sure he would have hugged Wo Fat if he'd been lurking outside the hospital.

Fortunately, he didn't have to hug Wo Fat. But he did hug Grace and Rachel before they dropped him off at Five-0. Once in the office, he hugged everybody. Especially Jenna, since he'd heard she was the one who had figured out the sarin gas.

Steve. Steve he hugged just to be an obnoxious ass. And because he didn't want Steve to feel left out of all the hugs.

*****

**Thirty-nine:**

What the hell was going on? The house was filled with smoke. That was never a good sign. His first concern was locating the source. After that, he would find Danno and kill him for trying to burn his house down while he was gone.

He found a fire, but it was localized to the frying pan on the stove. As he was dousing it, Danno came screaming into the kitchen, crying about his 'frittata'. Steve wasn't sure what the thing in the pan was, but he was pretty sure it was not food.

He might have let the frittata incident slide, except Danno had brought a _dog_ into the house. What the hell had he been thinking?

*****

**Forty:**

Call her a romantic. Call her sentimental. Call her crazy. But Kono had really enjoyed that kiss during one of their first cases. It had been a distraction so Steve could get into position, but it had been really hard not to get lost in the 'part'.

She had to admit, Danny was a good kisser. And she would absolutely kiss him again, given the opportunity. Now, if she could only manufacture a reason to need to lay one on him without it looking weird.

Or, maybe she should tuck that fantasy fodder away for later. It wouldn't do for her to get caught staring at him like a schoolgirl with a crush.

*****

**Forty-one:**

"Is this how you always watch TV?" Danny asked Steve as he sat on the couch nearby.

"Only when I'm trying to think," Steve replied.

"Think?" Danny asked. "You're thinking right now?"

"Not with you yammering at me, I'm not," he snarled.

Danny held up his hands. "Fine. I'll sit over here and watch the TV. On mute."

Steve turned a look on him. "Don't pout, Danno."

"I'm not pouting. I'm watching… fishing. Without sound. It's very intense. Is that guy gonna get the fish? Is he gonna reel it in? Will it fit in the boat?"

Rather than endure the torture, Steve pressed a button on the remote and un-muted the TV. Fishing with sound.

*****

**Forty-two:**

She remembers that first time like it was yesterday. The first time she fell off her board and got sucked down into the ocean. For a split second, she thought she was trapped. That she would never make it to the surface. All of her previous experience with water and the ocean forgotten.

Then her head broke the surface of the water and she took in great lungfuls of air. Salty and warm, the spray of the ocean filled her lungs alongside the much-desired oxygen. It felt like home.

The next step was to get back up on her board and try again.

*****

**Forty-three:**

Danny watched the slender, dark-haired woman ride in on the waves. She was gorgeous even from here. But when she stashed her board in the sand, stomped up to another surfer and decked him across the mouth for cruising in on her wave, she was positively breathtaking.

There is nothing sexier than a woman who can hold her own. Especially if she looks like _that_. He almost missed every warning and sound Chin made. He almost made the ultimate mistake of reaching out to touch the woman's hip, but caught his treacherous hands at the last second, remembering that right cross she threw.

Yeah, he'd live to at least see another day.

*****

**Forty-four:**

Their hope, when they finally capture Wo Fat, is to send him far, far away from Hawai'i. Somewhere so far that he can never come back. Somewhere that they won't want to send him back. Maybe they won't want to keep him either.

They long for this day. Long for and fear it. Because what happens once they are rid of Wo Fat? Who might step in to take his place? The next in line? Another from elsewhere who is far worse? It's a very Machiavellian view, but no less valid. It has a place in history for a reason.

So, they hope and they chase.

*****

**Forty-five:**

Jenna begged him not to go. The assignment was too dangerous. She was certain something terrible would happen. She didn't want him to go. She didn't want him to not come back. Or worse.

He told her everything would be fine. He said he would be back for her, sooner than she knew. He said this was just like any other assignment. That the dangers were the same as before and she knew that.

Then he didn't come back.

Stupidly, she waited, hoping it wasn't true. Hoping he would return just like he said.

It didn't happen.

She had to take matters into her own hands. She had to find him. To find out where he was and get him back. She needed him.

*****

**Forty-six:**

It was a battle of wills. Kono and Steve were battling it out in the kitchen. No one's exactly sure why, but they decided that arm-wrestling for the last piece of home-made pie was the best solution.

Danny's idea would have been to just eat it himself, but he had been threatened with bodily harm – by Kono, no less – if he so much as breathed in the direction of the slice of pie. Needless to say, Danny had stayed away from the damned pie.

Chin showed up and nearly lost a knee when he walked too close to the counter holding the pie. "Tried to warn you," Danny called to him as he half-hobbled back into the living room to escape glares of death. "That's some serious arm-wrestling going on in there," Chin said.

"It's some seriously good pie they're fighting over."

*****

**Forty-seven:**

"What'ya doin', Monkey?" Danny asked, squatting near Grace where she was sitting beside a sandbox. _Who needs a sandbox in freaking Hawai'i?_

Grace looked up at him. "Watching the ants."

"Oh, watching the ants. What are they doing?" he asked.

"They're crawling up here, then over there, then down this way and into the anthill," she explained, tracing their paths with her finger.

Danny followed her movements. "Okay. And why are you watching the ants?"

"Because, Danno," she said, blinking up at him, "I wanted to see where they were going."

"Of course. That's an excellent reason." It made sense. Watching the ants would definitely tell her where they were going.

"Do you wanna sit and watch 'em with me?" she asked him.

Danny thought for a moment. "Well, I would, Gracie, but I need to talk to Mommy for a few minutes. Maybe after that, okay?"

"Okay," she said and went back to watching the little insects.

*****

**Forty-eight:**

The day he learned about motorcycles, he knew he would have to have one someday. When he met a friend who drove one, he nearly offered the girl money to teach him how to ride. She traded for a date to the prom and he accepted gladly. (He probably would've asked her anyway.)

Once he learned, he rode any chance he got. Any friend he could find who had a bike they would let him ride, he did. Until he had enough money to get one of his own... that his parents wouldn't let him drive at all until he passed the test for a motorcycle license.

He had never studied so hard for anything in his life. He even endured the classes he had to take. And he passed on the first try. Best discovery ever – riding a motorcycle.

*****

**Forty-nine:**

He had only ever been on a filming location once. It hadn't been all that memorable. In fact, he remembers it as being rather boring. What can he say, standing around while some guy yells at you – or other people – for no reason other than 'he can'.

That one stint as a 'walk on cop' had meant it was the first and only time he would ever be on TV or in a film. He's not even sure he was actually _in_ whatever it was they had been filming that day.

Had they not offered him a few hundred dollars for the two hours he had to stand around and do very little, he would have turned the offer down flat.

*****

**Fifty:**

Steve stepped back, ball nestled by his head, and gazed across the field. If the play went according to plan, his target would be open and ready and they could put this one in the books.

He waited for just the right moment, then launched the ball. It sailed through the air, perfect spiral action, and arced down... two inches short of the running back's palm.

Steve nearly crumpled into the ground. How had they not made that play? How had they missed?

He watched the cluster-fuck at the other end of the field and pulled himself back together. They still had a chance. It would be a Hail Mary, but they had a chance.


End file.
